Contents

Compartmentalization- The more sections you can divide your base into, the more difficult it is for the opponent to get all your resources

Psychology- There are ways to encourage/predict entry points to your castle. Use this to your advantage by loading the traps in these areas. For instance, placing both stone stores on one side of your layout (not together) entices people to approach from that side. People also seem to prefer to attack left-right/front to back, in my experience most attacks come from the W/SW.

Map Edge- Map edge is useful and it does put most people off, but don't rely on it. It is useful for one side with good cover, short and long range, to ensure most/all of the off-map is defended. The benefit of the edge is the confined space with no easy escape route. The downsides to edge are: direct spawn zone, no traps, and for corners: loss of free gold and limited gates.

Towers shouldn't be isolated, on corners for instance, and should be backed up with other defence. Where possible, providing 2 spaces between defensive buildings, or keeping the towers behind a wall (instead of part of the wall) will reduce Winrich's ability. Winrich and Alex love clusters, so evenly spacing towers around the castle, within range of one another, strengthens the defense.

Trebuchet Placement- The ideal place for a treb is in the middle, not a corner, where it can focus on the action inside the walls. Since trebuchet emplacements are vulnerable up close, covering them with close-range towers will greatly increase their survivability.

Troop Speed- Slow troops force the attacker to wait to deal with their appearance outside the walls. However, the attacker will be able to evade slow troops with faster units like cavalry. With a frost layout, faster units like cavalry are probably better.

Usefulness if Converted by Joan- Once you start facing advanced opponents, Joan becomes a factor. Once converted, cavalry, mamluks, blue infantry and Teutonic knights can be very destructive to your defense. Pikemen and Archers are far less effective once converted, especially Pikemen.

Placement- Keeping GHs deep inside, perhaps 2 levels of walls, means they will spawn at least twice, the second will pop out just as the trebs are coming through the first layer of wall. Placing Patrol Points outside the walls allows them to respond quickly, but makes them vulnerable to Joan. Placing 1 or 2 Patrols around the Keep at least preserves the mystery whether they are Holding Ground or Attacking Immediately.

Hold Ground or Attack Immediately- ALWAYS set Guardhouses to Attack Immediately so their respawn counter starts right away. In general, Patrol Points should be set to Attack Immediately. However, if you find people are using Joan against you a lot, set 1 or 2 Patrols to Hold Ground near the Keep. Mix it up so that people revenging you can’t look at your replays and know what your troops will do.

Caltrops - Use caltrops to force enemy units to slow down, so that a Ladder Invader rush will have to spend more time in the range of a crossbow or flame tower, or so that Edward has to take that extra Ballista shot.

Engineer Traps - It is possible to use walls to block engineer traps from coming into view when activated. This can be a nasty surprise, as it forces the enemy to deal with the engineers that are probably already eating through their trebuchet battery.

Fire Traps - Use fire traps to protect chokepoints. Due to their massive damage, they can quickly destroy whole armies.